As a response to current events, Lynne Twist recorded the following video on Monday, June 1st, 2020.
Here’s a fuller version of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s quote that Lynne references:
“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of White society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense, our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Here’s the edited transcript of Lynne’s video message above:
“Hi, it’s June 1st. And I’m Lynne Twist. And our country is in tatters. As Martin Luther King said, ‘A riot is the language of the unheard.’ It’s time to listen. And I say to listen deeply… not from shame or guilt, but from deep, deep reflection and profound responsibility.
For 400 years, our country has killed, crushed, denied, suppressed, oppressed, dehumanized, and othered people of color… human beings. And we’ve never owned that as a nation. We’ve never taken responsibility as a society. We’ve never stepped up to see what we’ve done. And what has built this country.
The opportunity of this tragic and horrendous series of killings and events is to listen, hear, own, and take full responsibility for the state of our union… actually, for the state of our disunion.
Reach out. Listen. Find your way to be an ally. Know that in grief and reflection, we will see how to respond, engage, and to make the difference that’s yours and mine to make. Thank you.“
